'It's one of those indescribable feelings,' Andrew Steele says of Tide's return to NCAA tournament

View full sizeAlabama players react in their locker room after hearing that the Crimson Tide is in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006. (UA photo)

TUSCALOOSA - At long last, the Alabama basketball team is headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006, and Andrew Steele simply can't tell you how good that feels.

"It's one of those indescribable feelings that you really can't put words on," the junior guard said Sunday evening after the Crimson Tide learned that it is the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region.

Alabama (21-11) will meet No. 8 Creighton (28-5) at 12:40 p.m. CDT on Friday in Greensboro, N.C. The game will be televised by TBS. The winner is likely to meet top-seeded North Carolina two days later.

For senior forward JaMychal Green, the feeling was quite describable.

"It's about the best feeling in the world," Green said. "This is what you work hard for. It's everybody's dream to get to the tournament. It was a goal of ours as a team, and we accomplished that goal."

Finally.

"We've had a couple of hard years, but I think we've got 'Bama basketball back where it needs to be and where it's supposed to be," Green said.

Anthony Grant is in his third season as Alabama's head coach. The Tide failed to reach a postseason tournament two years ago. It was crushed when it didn't earn an NCAA tournament berth last season but reached the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament.

"It's exciting," Grant said. "Having the opportunity to get there is great. The goal now is to win. That's my focus. I'm excited to be in the tournament, but my focus now is to prepare to go win."

He already appeared locked in on the challenge. When asked what the team's schedule will be this week, he said the team will leave Wednesday for Greensboro.

"It's Greensboro, right?" he asked a member of the media relations staff.

What definitely registered was the first-round opponent. Creighton is the Missouri Valley Conference champion. It is ranked No. 19 in The Associated Press poll and No. 23 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll. The Bluejays have an NCAA RPI ranking of No. 23 compared to Alabama's No. 36. But the Crimson Tide's strength-of-schedule ranking is No. 32 compared to No. 80 for Creighton.

The Tide and Blue Jays have one common opponent. Alabama defeated Wichita State 70-60 on Nov. 18 in Puerto Rico. Creighton won 68-61 on Dec. 31 at Wichita State but lost 89-68 on Feb. 11 in Omaha, Neb. Creighton won 70-60 on Nov. 16 at UAB.

This will be a battle of offense vs. defense. The Bluejays are averaging 80 points per game. Alabama is allowing 58.1 points per game.

Greg McDermott is 51-21 in his second season as Creighton's head coach. His son Doug is the Bluejays' star. The 6-foot-7 sophomore forward is averaging 23.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. His 581 points last season were the most by a freshman in Missouri Valley Conference history. McDermott was a teammate of North Carolina star sophomore Harrison Barnes at Ames (Iowa) High School.

"I'm happy to be in the tournament," Grant said. "It comes down to the matchups, not necessarily the seeds that you go up against. This tournament is about matchups."

Green said he expected Alabama to reach the NCAA tournament before his college career was over.

"I knew it was going to come," he said. "It just took time."

Alabama players were starting to sweat as the bracket was unveiled. The South Region was announced first on CBS. Then the West Region. Then the East Region.

"All I could think about was last year," Green said. "We were in the C,M. Newton Room waiting for our name to be called and it never got called. I was getting nervous, and finally they called our name, and there was so much joy in the room."

Steele also was squirming in Alabama's locker room as the selections were announced.

"The longer we waited, the more nervous we got," he said. "It kind of gave us flashbacks to last year, but when we heard our name called, it was just a lot of excitement.

"We understood that all of our hard work had paid off. And for us to continue JaMychal's career and get a chance to play for the championship is exciting."